Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on MSNBC's "NOW With Alex Wagner"

Hoyer Discusses the Fiscal Cliff on MSNBC's "NOW With Alex Wagner"

WASHINGTON, DC - House Democratic Whip Steny H. Hoyer (MD) discussed the need to reach a balanced agreement to prevent the fiscal cliff on MSNBC's "NOW With Alex Wagner" this afternoon. Below are excerpts and a link to the video.

“Everything's on the table. That doesn't mean we're for what's going to be on the table, but we need to have a full consideration of the whole gamut of things that are creating this issue and that can solve this issue. We need to not go over the fiscal cliff. We need to come to an agreement, and the President, I think, is working hard to get there.”

“It's necessary for us to come to a place where we will be able to adopt a fiscally sustainable, credible path for this country. That will give great confidence to the American people and will be, in my opinion, the single largest stimulus package that we could pass for the economy.”

“I think America is hoping that we will not go over the fiscal cliff, that we will come to an agreement, and that that agreement will not, in any way, hurt the most vulnerable in our country. In my view, the richest country on the face of the earth can solve its fiscal challenge without hurting the vulnerable.”

“The debt ceiling ought not to be a negotiable item. I don't know of a Republican leader or a Democratic leader who believes that not extending the debt limit, putting America's credit worthiness at risk, saying to the world that America has incurred debt but is not going to pay them, is an alternative … This ought not to be an item of negotiations or a leverage item, and I would hope Speaker Boehner would take that off the table as some sort of leverage item.”